Lover and Commander
by Bass Girl '89
Summary: I don't really know what to write here, because I haven't sorted out what's going to happen yet. At the moment, it's a predictable RaoulBuri fic, but I'm working on it. You can probably expect fluff at some point.


A/N. Hey guys! New story! Well, obviously it's new, but hey, thought I'd let you know anyway. So. Quick question; does anyone else hand write their fics before typing them up? Or is that just a strange habit of mine? Because this one takes up four and a half hand written pages and it took ages. Meh, it gives me something to do in class. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wouldn't mind owning Raoul, my mental picture of him makes him look pretty hot. But, sadly, I don't. I don't anything else either.

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Chapter 1.

Lord Raoul of Golden Lake watched as Commander Bury of the Queens Riders drilled the newest group of trainees. She was attempting to teach them the basics of Kimiri hand to hand combat and was failing spectacularly. As he watched, she grimaced, raised her hand and called out;

"Five minutes! And if you're not back by then, I'll give you to Sarge to do with as he pleases!" This statement was greeted by laughter from all but a few, who looked nervous. Obviously the initial shock of meeting Sarge for the first time had not yet worn off for some. Buri mopped her face and walked over to Raoul.

"That looked like fun." Buri gave him a disgusted look. As she did so, she reflected that being with him was degrading, in a way, since even when she was sitting on the top rail of the fence, as she was now, she still only came up to his eyes.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you. And anyway, I don't know what you're talking about. Teaching new trainees is one of my absolute favourite pastimes." Raoul smiled lazily.

"I really can't see what the fuss is about. It can't be that hard, not compared to training the Own." His remark was greeted by a grunt from Buri.

"Well you can feel free to have a go any time you like."

"All right. How about now?" Buri looked up at him in surprise. She hadn't expected him to accept her offer.

"Go for it."

It was with some trepidation that the trainee riders lined up at the end of their break. It was somewhat of a shock to find Raoul of Golden Lake waiting for them when they had expected to find Buri waiting for them. Raoul looked at the assembled trainees. He noted that none of them were late. Perhaps Buri's threat hadn't been quite as empty as he had thought. He also noticed the nervous expressions that many of them were wearing.

"Perhaps you'd better explain the situation." He muttered to Buri. She nodded and stepped forward.

"All right, listen up you lot. As you all should know, this is Lord Raoul of Golden Lake, commander of the King's Own. He's going to be taking the rest of your class to see if he can drum hand to hand into you any better than I can." Buri moved back to the fence as Raoul stepped forward. As she passed hi, he muttered;

"You forgot to say that I'm more competent than you." Buri looked up sharply, ready to make a tart reply, and found that he was smiling and there was laughter in his eyes. So he was teasing her, was he? She continued on her way to the fence, thinking of ways to get him back. She didn't normally take to being teased, but since it was Raoul, she supposed she might let him off a bit more lightly than she would most people.

As she sat on the fence, lost in thoughts of mild, yet sweet, revenge, she watched Raoul take charge of the trainees.

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Raoul caught sight of Buri's face as she realised that he was teasing her and continued on her way to the fence. He made a mental note not to turn his back on her if at all possible and to be careful when she had anything in her hands for a while.

Putting all thoughts of Buri aside, he turned his attention to the trainees facing him. They were a motley lot, ranging in height from those who would come only just past his waist (which was most people anyway), to those few who were only about a head shorter than him self. He beckoned to the tallest lad, a gangling boy with light blond hair that flopped in his face and alarmingly blue eyes.

"What's your name, lad?" The boy stared at his feet.

"Ewen, my lord." His reply was so quiet that Raoul almost missed it.

"It's all right lad, I won't bight you. And my name's Raoul. Not sir or my lord or any of that." The boy looked up through his hair and smiled shyly. Raoul grinned back and winked.

"Right, everyone listen up. I'm going to teach you some of the first combinations we learn as pages, none of this fancy exotic stuff. No, don't whine at me, it's nothing complicated, and from what I've seen, you're all well capable of it. Now watch carefully while Ewen and I demonstrate. We'll show you a couple times and then you can split up into pairs to practice. I'll come round and help where necessary. After ten minutes, we'll stop and learn another combination." Raoul quickly explained to Ewen what he was going to do. After several step-by-step demonstrations, the trainees split off into pairs, while Raoul circulated among them. After the designated ten minutes, they stopped and Raoul and Ewen demonstrated the next combination. This pattern continued for the rest of the afternoon.

When the bell rang to signify four o'clock and the end of class, Buri climbed down off her fence and walked over to stand next to Raoul.

"Could we all thank Lord Raoul for spending his time with us and assisting in our training?" All the trainees applauded enthusiastically. Raoul turned a deep shade of scarlet.

"Oh for Mithros' sake! You applaud performers, not instructors! If any of you think I spent my afternoon here just to entertain you, you probably shouldn't be here." There was a ripple of laughter in appreciation of this statement. "And I expect to have memorized all that and still be able to do it when I come back. Now get out of here, before your esteemed commander gives you more work."

Buri made an indignant noise. Raoul was teasing her again! The cheek of it! She had got pert of her revenge from the look on his face when the riders had applauded. She knew he hated any kind of special attention. But now she had to think of something to repay him for the second comment as well. Right now, however, there was something else that required her attention.

"How come they'll do all that stuff for you? And how did you get them to like you that easily? Why were they that willing to try new things for you? Why won't they do that for me?" Raoul laughed and held up a hand to silence her. He had the feeling that if he didn't, she would go on for hours.

"Whoa! One question at a time! First of all, they'll do all that stuff for me because I phrased it in a way that made them feel that they had a choice in the matter. Second question. I think it may have been more a question of respect, than like. And they do like you, you know. No, let me finish." Here he placed a finger over her lips to silence her when she would have argued. "I believe I was up to answering your third question. They will try new things for me because I made it fun and interesting for them. They will do that for you too if you ask then too and imply that there is a choice whether they do or not. It also helps to keep telling them that they can do it and are good at. If you tell them often enough and give compliments when and where required, they will believe it themselves and, consequently improve."

By this time, they had reached the rider barracks. Buri started to quiz him further about his methods, but Raoul held up his hand again.

"Please Buri! Give a man a rest! I promise I'll come back tomorrow and you can carry on interrogating me then, it you like." Buri sighed.

"It won't be necessary for you to come back to be interrogated. And thanks for all your help today." Raoul smiled down at her.

"No problem. I'll see you later." Buri watched as e walked back to his rooms in the Own's barracks. She couldn't help thinking how handsome he looked with his hair hanging limply around his face. She also noted that his shirt was stuck to his body with sweat. It showed off his well-muscled body to good effect. She shook her head abruptly and turned to go to her own bath. She didn't have time to fall in love.

Raoul smiled as he walked away from the small, fiery Kimir. He could feel her eyes on his back, so he knew that she watched him until he turned a corner. She was sweet when she was indignant. He suspected that he be the only one who thought so, but that didn't deter him. Differences in opinion never had.

* * *

He was still smiling quietly to him self when he reached the mess hall that evening. All the men were anxious to know the reason behind Raoul's apparent happiness. Although they quizzed him closely, he refused to give details and sent them on their way by laughing and saying;

"Can't you give you poor leader a break? I've been working hard all day and now you lot want to push me further!" At this, all the men laughed, but hence forward, all questions ceased. They had figured out that weren't going to get any more information out of him.

Raoul was aware that had probably just supplied the palace with gossip for the next two moths, but he was unconcerned. No one who mattered to him would pay any heed to what was said and all the noble women with marriageable daughters talked about him anyway.

Raoul was right. By the following morning, the whole palace was full of the news that Lord Raoul of Golden Lake, commander of the King's Own, had a secret he was anxious to hide.

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A/N. Well. I'm not too sure about this story. I'm not too happy with the characterisation of Raoul and Buri. And it's a bit obvious what's going to happen. And I suspect it may all have been done before. So let me know. Is it any good or should I ditch it? And would you believe that my four and half pages of hand writing only ad up to 1,646 words? Talk about miffed...

Lexi G


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